Visible Signs of Invisible Faith

Colossians 1:11-20

Christ the King

Year C

November 24, 2013

First Presbyterian Church, Clarksville

And

Harmony Presbyterian Church

The Reverend Dr. Robert Wm Lowry

                Most days I find Facebook an amusing annoyance. 

It is amusing how many people think I care what they had for lunch or how cute the cat was playing with the ball of yarn strategically dropped in the middle of the room while being filmed. 

It is annoying because as easy as it is to use Facebook to connect with friends, it is also an easy forum to get into a back and forth debate on any given topic from football to politics.

Earlier this week I was in a back and forth with a seminary friend who sees the world through distinctly different glasses than me.  Still, I know him well and know that he is a good man and a faithful pastor so theological debate with him is fun and even productive from time to time.  For an entire day, we had a debate going back and forth between Iowa and Arkansas and by the end we had resolved nothing other than the reaffirmation that after 15 years, we still don’t agree on many things.

As often happens with Facebook debates, the discussion prompted comments from some spectators who were reading along but not participating.  One of those spectators, a childhood friend, sent me a private message telling me that he was going to pray for me and my soul and ask that God forgive me for my wrongheaded opinions.  In what I know he intended to be a kind note, he basically told me that if I was not careful I was going to burn in hell and God was never going to forgive me. 

After the discussion ended in its usual stalemate and I got on with the rest of my day, I kept thinking about that note.  At first I was a little angry at the presumption that he thought that he knew the mind of God or the faithfulness or lack thereof of my relationship with God.  The more I thought about it though, the sadder I became until finally I settled in the place I still find myself this morning. 

I feel profoundly sad for him and for anyone who goes through life that scared of God. 

What, I find myself thinking, must it be like to go through life feeling like God is keeping score and waiting for you to trip up; feeling like God is anything but on our side. 

20 years ago there was a wonderful Far Side cartoon- remember those?  They were one frame drawings that in the simplest of terms offered profound commentary on life.  There was one I remember in particular.  A man in a white robe with a long white beard surrounded by puffy clouds is sitting in front of a computer.  On the computer screen was a man walking down a sidewalk next to a building and over his head was a piano suspended by a rope.  It was obviously being moved into an apartment in the building.  With a wry grin on his face the man, obviously meant to be God, had his finger poised over a computer key marked “smite.”  God, just waiting for the right moment to hit the button, let the piano fall and smite the man when he least expected it. 

I think that must be what God looks like to my friend.  The God of the smite button.  Just waiting and watching ready to reign punishment down at a moment’s notice.

There is certainly cultural currency to that perspective; the idea of a vengeful and unforgiving God ready to punish transgressions and dole out just eternal punishments for momentary misdeeds in this life.  That image of God makes it easy to divide the world into us and them; to delineate between those neighbors who are deserving of God’s love and therefore mine and those who are not.  That is without a doubt a popular theology of contemporary cultural Christianity.  That is an easy God to worship.

The problem I have is that I don’t find that God in the bible. 

I don’t find a grudge holding, smite button hitting, willing to forgive but not forget God. 

Yes, God is judge.  But that judge is just not vengeful.

Yes, God is the final arbiter of all things in life and in death.  But that God is the God of resurrection and salvation not death and anguish.

Yes, God gets angry with God’s people.  But that same God orders the banquet table set and the best garments brought out to greet the child who returns. 

I just cannot bring myself to believe that God is so petty as to hold grudges or so callous as to simply turn away from us.  I just cannot bring myself to believe in a God that…small.

A similar heresy was creeping through the community in Colossae.  The bold witness to the character of God that is found in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ had begun to wane in the young church.  Fundamentally the question was not one about whether Jesus was the son of God or the resurrection was real.  The question had to do with the nature of God.  When Messiah came into the world and shared in our human frailty; when Emmanuel, God with us, was born in the innocence of a child; when, as the hymn says, “joy of heaven to earth came down;” was that really God or just a reflection of God? 

In other words, in Christ did God really mean it?

Paul’s answer is simple. YES!!  Yes God meant it!

Christ was not God just dressed up with a people costume.  Christ was truly God come to earth taking on the reality and the pain and the frailty of true humanity.

            Far from being the God of the smite button and miles from being a God lingering in the dark waiting to pounce on our mistakes, in Christ, God is God for us.  Beyond the hurts, wants, worries, stresses, cares and fears of this world, God, in Christ, is for us.

            The day we celebrate today, the Feast of Christ the King, is the newest holiday in the church calendar.  It began in the 1920’s as a Roman Catholic celebration of the reign of Christ on the last Sunday in October.  In 1970, as this new day caught on among Protestants, it found its way to this day; the last Sunday before the first Sunday of Advent. 

            In a liturgical light it makes sense that we celebrate the reign of Christ today at the end of the liturgical year.  We end the year celebrating the reign of Christ as we prepare to come back together next week to begin our journey to the celebration of his birth.

            That is the liturgical and theological reason this day makes sense.

            There is another reason, albeit a somewhat ironic one given our text today.

            The celebration of the reign of Christ occurs on a Sunday with so many other things happening- Thanksgiving, Christmas sales, that last gasp of the semester before exams start- that this day almost goes unnoticed.  We set aside a day to celebrate the reign of Christ and we do everything we can to clutter up the calendar until the day is all but lost in the din. 

            You’ve heard the cliché about Christmas that we need to remember “the reason for the season?”  The same thing can be said about today.  We need to remember the reason for this day. 

Easier said than done, I know.  We all find ways to be busy this time of year.  In a stunning display of hypocrisy I am standing in this pulpit preaching about focusing on the meaning of the reign of Christ, while my to do list and down to the minute and cooking plan for 15 Thanksgiving dinner guests is on my desk and not far from the front of my mind!  Whether it is holiday meals, Black Friday deals, Holiday parties or determinedly avoiding all of the above, we are surrounded by distractions. 

And when we are so distracted; when our lives and our spirits are being drawn in so many directions, we all too easily do what the early Christians at Colossae evidently did, we begin to worship the image of a God who is easier to worship rather than the one who is revealed in Jesus Christ. 

When I am too busy to help my neighbor, it is easier to worship a God who is only concerned with some of my neighbors; the good ones.  When I am too distracted to notice injustice in the world, it is easier to worship a God who sees injustice as just desserts.  When I am exhausted by the demands of the world, it is easier to worship an undemanding God.

And when that is the God we worship; when we redraw the picture of salvation history from our own perspective; we fall victim to the same theological snare that caught the Colossians.  We lose track of the character of the one who reigns over all creation; God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

We lose track of the reason we celebrate today; Christ is king- at the center of all creation, reconciling all things to God- Christ is king. 

            When we get distracted from Christ at the center, it is easy to lose track of the promise that Christ brings; God is for us.  And when we lose sight of God for us, it is all too easy to imagine that God is distant, apart or worse, against us. 

            That is the real tragedy of the Colossians, I think.  It is not their bad theology or their failure to fully comprehend the nature of Christ.  Those are not good, but they are not the most tragic thing to befall that community or ours.  More tragic than bad theology is…despair.

            Despair.

            The groaning of the spirit that cries out in fear and all too easily leads to hopelessness.  When we lose Christ at the center- when the eternal light of hope and promise and love and grace ceases to be the center of spiritual gravity of our lives, we despair.

            And in our despair, we fear.

            We fear being left behind.  We fear being forgotten.  We fear being left outside the radius of God’s love. 

            That is the deep tragedy of the theological heresy of the God of the smite button.  Despair. 

            When Paul writes his letter to the Colossians he has a simple recipe to combat that heresy and its accompanying despair.  It is right at the front of the letter in our reading from today.  Paul, who is no stranger to hyperbole and harsh language, says to his audience, the cure for what ails your spirit is…remember. 

            Paul writes in his letter the words of what is believed to be an early Christian baptismal hymn.

                        The Son is the image of the invisible God,
                           the one who is first over all creation,

                        Because all things were created by him:
                           both in the heavens and on the earth,
                           the things that are visible and the things that are invisible.
                        Whether they are thrones or powers,
                          or rulers or authorities,
                          all things were created through him and for him.

                        He existed before all things,
                            and all things are held together in him.

                        He is the head of the body, the church,
                               who is the beginning,
                                the one who is firstborn from among the dead
                             so that he might occupy the first place in everything.

                        Because all the fullness of God was pleased to live in him,
                                          and he reconciled all things to himself through him—
                                whether things on earth or in the heavens.
                        He brought peace through the blood of his cross. (CEB)

            The Colossians do not need a new lesson, they just need to remember what they already know from the promises of God. 

            Of all my seminary memories, time spent in class with Dr. Stan Hall is one of the best.  Stan was a good and compassionate man, a gifted teacher and a committed theologian of the church.  Stan taught liturgical theology- the theology of the church’s worship.  Without fail, when he led chapel, at some point in the service, Stan would come to the center of the chancel, stand behind the table, raise his hands in the air and say in his deep commanding voice…”remember your baptism, and be thankful.” 

            In the Reformed tradition, we say of the sacraments of baptism and communion that they are outward and visible signs of an inward and spiritual grace.  Another way of saying it is that they are visible signs of the faithfulness of God. 

            I hear echoes of Stan in Paul’s recitation of the Christ hymn in Colossians.  Paul tells them, tells us, to remember the promise of baptism that God is not only with us but for us; that we are drawn into covenant and relationship not with a God who wishes us ill but a God who desires nothing less than all good things for God’s children.

            That God, the God of the baptismal waters, doesn’t have a finger poised over the smite button.  That God’s hands are far too busy gathering in the children of God; bringing them…us…ever closer to the promise of tomorrow. 

            I haven’t responded to my friend who wrote me the note…the one who seems so afraid of God.  Not yet at least.  I think the best thing I can do is to say two things to him.

            First, that I will pray for him as well.

            And second, that I hope he remembers his baptism and is thankful.  And filled with hope.

            After all, that is what we celebrate today. 

            The kingship of Jesus Christ who is hope summed up.

            Amen.

           

            

The Fourth Kind of Stewardship Sermon

1 Chronicles 29:1-20

November 10, 2013

First and Harmony Presbyterian Churches

The Reverend Dr. Robert Wm Lowry

                Surrounding Nelson’s Column at Trafalgar Square in London there are four giant plinths.  A plinth is nothing but a platform built of stone or concrete on which a column or a statue rests.  On three of the plinths in Trafalgar Square there stand great bronze statues memorializing the likeness and accomplishments of past leaders.  The fourth plinth, originally built to hold a statue of William IV on his horse, remains empty.  For more than a century and a half the grate plinth stood vacant as funds were perpetually unavailable to build a suitable monument. 

            About 15 years ago, the city of London began to commission artists to install temporary art that reflected the times.  One artist invited 2400 people to stand on top of the plinth one at a time for an hour each.  Another built a giant rocking horse.  The current installation is a 12 foot tall blue rooster. I’m sure it has some deeper meaning but it escapes me.

            Unlike its fellows in the square with their unmovable bronze monuments to moments in time, the fourth plinth reflects a particular vision of a particular time. 

            Stewardship sermons are much like the plinths around Trafalgar Square.  There are four basic stewardship sermons- three that never really change.  They are like those bronze statues.   The fourth, like the art on that fourth plinth, changes with each preacher and each congregation. 

            The first stewardship sermon has been preached since the first time the church needed someone’s money.  It is the fear sermon. 

            Give, or else.

            Give, or God will punish you.

            Give, or burn.

            I can’t preach that one.  I can’t preach it because I don’t believe it.

            The second stewardship sermon is almost as old.  It is the promise sermon.

            Give and God will give back.

            Give and you will be blessed.

            Give and God will love you.

            This is the sermon of the television preacher.  I can’t preach this one either because I don’t believe this theology either.  Plus, I don’t have the hair for television preaching!

            The third stewardship sermon is the guilt sermon. 

            I suppose we could just cut Sunday School.

            There are plenty of other churches who can help the hungry. 

            Give, because after all God gave you so much and you don’t want to seem selfish, right?  Can’t you give just a little back to God?

            This one I cannot preach because I have too much respect for you, for myself and more importantly for the gospel.

            So that leaves us with the fourth stewardship sermon.  Like the fourth plinth around the square, the fourth basic stewardship sermon changes based on who is preaching and who is listening.  Lacking the crutch of fear, guilt or promises of riches, the preacher who preaches this sermon has only two homiletical tools in his or her toolbox; the truth of the biblical witness and the trust of the community of faith.

            This morning, I am going to try to preach from the fourth plinth; I am going to try to rely on the truth of the biblical witness and the trust we share as a community of faith to share with you some thoughts on biblical stewardship and its place in our congregation.

            A first principle of biblical stewardship is this: we are all in this together even beyond the generations.

            When the time comes for David to turn over leadership of the nation to his son Solomon, David addresses the leaders and the people and invites them to join him in building the Lord’s house.  “Who else,” he says, “will volunteer, dedicating themselves to the LORD today?” 

            What is being built is a physical structure and David could probably have afforded to build it himself from his own treasury.  And to be sure, he gives generously toward the project.  By inviting the people to join him in giving, David is not trying to save some money.  He is inviting the people to join him in dedicating part of their lives- wealth, time, energy, talent- to the building of God’s house. 

            Giving to God was understood in the ancient near east as an opportunity for faithfulness not an obligation.  By inviting the people to join him in giving, David is inviting them to join him in faithful living.

            When we talk about stewardship here in this place- this church- we are talking about a shared investment in God’s house.  Over the last couple of years, this congregation has invested emotional, spiritual and, yes, financial resources in moving the church toward a joyous and hopeful future. 

            We are all in this together.  Generations built this building and gave us a strong heritage on which to stand, and now it is our turn.  We are all invited to share from our lives as we are able in wealth, time, energy and talent to the building of God’s house. 

            A second principle of biblical stewardship is motives matter.

            When he prays in thanksgiving to God for the generosity of the people, David says:

            “Since I know, my God, that you examine the mind and take delight in honesty, I have freely given all these things with the highest motives.  And now, I’ve been delighted to see your people here offering so willingly to you.”

            Stewardship is not coercive.  Or at least it shouldn’t be.  Stewardship is meant to be a reflection of our faith and how can a faith defined by grace and promise and hope be embodied in a stewardship of fear and coercion? 

            What David realized is that giving toward the work of the community of God is necessarily an act of faithfulness. 

            John Calvin defined faith as a “firm and certain knowledge of God’s benevolence toward us.”  Faith is not belief in a doctrine, a statement, a confession or even a particular definition of God.  It is faith in God’s faithfulness; it is faith that no matter what God loves us and abides with us; that no matter how far we may go, God is our everlasting companion. 

            When we give with both generosity of gift and generosity of spirit, our stewardship is a response in faithfulness to God. 

            We give out of faithfulness not fear;

            Compassion not coercion;                                         

            Promise not fear of punishment.

            Motives matter.

            A third principle of biblical stewardship is every gift is worth celebrating.

            As a community of faith, we come from vastly different lives and circumstances.  Faithful gifts come in as many shapes and sizes as there are faithful givers. 

            When the pledges have been received and the capital campaign to build the temple is over and David prays to the Lord, he uses the same word to describe each and every gift; abundance.  No one is singled out for being a better giver than another-not even David himself.  Rather, David celebrates each and every gift for what it is, a faithful contribution to the community’s collective response to God’s own faithfulness. 

            When we say that every gift matters, those words are more than marketing.  They are theological.  Saying that every gift, regardless of size, matters is a theological claim that God delights in faithful giving from each and every household. 

            Whether the gift is a mite or a million, an hour or a day, proofreading a bulletin or maintaining a website, however we give- whatever we give- it is right that we celebrate every gift as one of abundance. 

            There are many more principles and perspectives and ideas about stewardship in scripture, but for this community in this place I think those speak to who and where we are. 

            In our stewardship:

            we are in this together beyond the generations;

            we give out of faithfulness;

            we celebrate every gift as a reflection of God’s abundance.

            What then can we say about our lives together in light of these principles?

            From a practical perspective, one of the unhealthiest things a congregation can do is rely on one or two members to provide the money needed to run the church.  There is a saying among preachers that many churches are one or two strategic funerals away from insolvency. 

            We are not in that place.  To be sure we have some very generous givers whose lives allow them to give generously to the church and for that we can and should all be grateful, however we are not a church that relies on one or two families to keep the church solvent.  We really are all in this together and thanks to the generosity of past generations and the wise decisions of the session, we have a growing endowment that links the giving of past generations to the ministry of present ones.

            Now it is our turn.  As you prayerfully consider your giving for the coming year, I hope that you will think not only about how your gift will contribute to the work of the church today, but how it might help us build the church for the future.  We are all in this together; the church past, present and future.

            There is a saying among therapists that God has not made the person who doesn’t need at least a little therapy.  Along those same lines, God has not drawn together the congregation that couldn’t use a little more money.  Thanks to the diligent efforts of the session and some creative modeling of how we are going to be church together, we, unlike many of our peer congregations, have a balanced budget and we are able to meet most of our needs with the income available to us. 

            Among small churches, we have the unusual opportunity to frame our giving not in terms of saving the church from financial ruin but as an act of faith in the ministries we are building and the work we are doing together.

            Over the last year, we have begun to explore new ministry opportunities and ways to reach out to families with children, to reengage the university community and to reach beyond the walls of the church to partner with our community in meeting the needs of our neighbors. 

            Our stewardship is an opportunity to share in that ministry; to share in the faith that God has work for us to do in this place and at this time; work being built by this generation for coming generations.

            Pastors debate about the ethics of knowing or not knowing how much an individual or family gives to the church.  I fall on the “don’t want to know” side though I am not sure there really is one right or wrong answer.  I don’t know how much anyone gives and I don’t keep track of how much anyone volunteers.  Whether the gift is large or small in time or wealth or energy or talent, I trust that it is faithfully given and worthy of our celebrating.  I trust in our giving and have faith that it is done with a spirit of generosity.

            That is the comfortable part.  Now for the more uncomfortable part.  If you are going to squirm in your seat, now is the time.

            We do need more.  As a congregation, if we are to maintain the ministries we have and those we hope to build, we need more resources- of energy, time, talent and, yes, money. One of the difficult parts of being a church on the upswing is that our ministries often outpace our giving.  We have reached that tipping point where budgets and staff hours cannot absorb all the needs. We are victims of the realization of our own efforts.   

            We need all hands on deck. 

            I would never compare myself to David, but I will borrow a paraphrase of his words.  Together we are not building anything for ourselves, we are building God’s house.  No single one of us can build it alone.  It takes us all, giving in faithfulness and, together, celebrating the abundance God brings into our midst.  It takes each of us examining our lives and seeing where we might find a little more; energy, time, talent or money; a little more that we might faithfully add to the faithfulness of our neighbors-of the generations-as we celebrate every gift that is given to build God's house.

            There you have it.  That is the truth as I see it.  That is the honest view from the fourth plinth.  No fear, no promises of riches and hopefully no emotional manipulations.  Just the honest view from where your pastor stands. 

            May God open us each and every one to the spirit of generosity and, above all, fill us all with the joy that comes from joining together to build God’s house.  Because that is what real stewardship is:

            Joy.  In God.

            Amen.